Thanks to support from the Netherlands Film Fund, ACE Producers is pleased to invite 8-10 Dutch producers to participate in the session Managing Your Energy, which will happen under the umbrella of the ACE Leadership Special. 

The aim of the ACE Leadership Special is to encourage and nurture successful, business acumen within the film industry, and equip participants with competence and confidence to provide effective leadership for their production companies and teams, and to become leaders through change.   

The session Managing Your Energy is designed for company-owning producers with the aim to help you be at your best, more of the time. It will give you time and space together to explore ways to manage your energy, and therefore your resilience.  

This very practical and interactive session is designed to give you the opportunity to:  

– Embody differing energetic ‘states’ 

– Notice the impact of working extended hours 

– Create a plan to manage your energy 

The session will be facilitated by Jo Bishop. Jo is a professional Learning and Development Consultant, Facilitator, Executive and Career Coach, with over twenty years’ experience working with global corporate clients from a wide range of sectors. Jo ensures her participants leave with practical tools and techniques that can make an immediate positive impact. Her work is, grounded in positive psychology, and she’s passionate about helping leaders create an environment of psychological safety and inclusion to unlock the potential of those around them. She enjoys working with senior leaders to make a difference in their organisation, and often coaches senior teams to lead their people with purpose.  

SESSION  

10:30 – 14:00, 21 June 2022 (including a Networking lunch with members of the ACE Leadership Special), at The Unbound, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

INFORMATION 

– We welcome producers working in fiction, drama series, animation and documentary. We strive to make the industry inclusive and diverse
– Participation is free of charge
– There are only 8 to 10 places available, producers need to be committed to attend the entire session
– Travel expenses that may arise will not be covered by the organization
– The session will be in English 

APPLICATION DEADLINE
Deadline: 3 June 2022

HOW TO APPLY
Please send us a short motivation and company profile (in English and combined into one PDF) to info@ace-producers.com 

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Contact Al Williams alwilliams@ace-producers.com 

ACE Producers’ Films took top prizes at the closing cerimony at the 75th Cannes Film Festival.

COMPETITION
Palme d’Or
TRIANGLE OF SADNESS by Ruben Östlund
Produced by Erik Hemmendorff (ACE Sweden)
Co-produced by Giorgos Karnavas (ACE Greece) and Per Damgaard Hansen (ACE Denmark)

Grand Prix — TIE
CLOSE by Lukas Dhont
Co-produced by Laurette Schillings (ACE the Netherlands), Frans van Gestel (ACE The Netherlands) and Jacques Henri Bronckart (ACE Belgium)

Jury Prize — TIE
LE OTTO MONTAGNE by Charlotte Vandermeersch and Felix Van Groeningen
Produced by Mario Gianani (ACE Italy)

Special prize for Cannes’ 75th anniversary
TORI & LOKITA by Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne
Co-produced by Bart Van Langendonck (ACE Belgium)

UN CERTAIN REGARD
Actress
CORSAGE by Marie Kreutzer
Co-produced by Jonas Dornbach (ACE Germany), Janine Jackowski (ACE Germany), Bernard Michaux (ACE Luxembourg), Jean-Christophe Reymond (ACE France)

Best Screenplay
MEDITERRANEAN FEVER by Maha Haj
Produced by Thanassis Karathanos (ACE Germany) and Janine Teerling (ACE Cyprus)

CRITICS’ WEEK
THE WOODCUTTER’S STORY, Gan Foundation Award for Distribution
Produced by Jussi Rantamäki (ACE Finland)
Co-produced by Koji Nelissen (ACE The Netherlands) and Jamila Wenske (ACE Germany)

DIRECTORS’ FORTNIGHT
ONE FINE MORNING, Best European Film Prize
Produced by Philipp Martin (ACE France) and David Thion (ACE France)
Co-produced by Roman Paul (ACE Germany).

ACE Producers has selected 11 producers from the European Union and the UK for the first edition of the ACE Leadership Special. The workshop is aimed at experienced producers looking to establish sound business foundations for their companies and develop their personal leadership and entrepreneurial skills.

The world of audiovisual production is changing rapidly. In order to survive and thrive in this dynamic environment, solid leadership is more important than ever. This asks for a strong vision, and the ability to operate with ever greater flexibility and agility. The ACE Leadership Special will help company-owning producers discover their own personal vision and gain the tools needed to adapt and flourish when faced with change.

The programme is supported by the Creative Europe MEDIA Programme and the Netherlands Film Fund.

 

SELECTED PRODUCERS FOR ACE LEADERSHIP SPECIAL 2022:

Martichka Bozhilova, Agitprop, Bulgaria

Eve Gabereau, Modern Films, UK

Alicja Grawon-Jaksik, Rabbit Hole Productions, Poland

Koji Nelissen, Keplerfilm, The Netherlands

Roman Paul, Razor Film Produktion, Germany

Martin Persson, Anagram Sverige, Sweden

Dries Phlypo, A Private View, Belgium

Marija Razgute, M-Films, Lithuania

Arash T. Riahi, Golden Girls Film, Austria

Laurette Schillings, Topkapi Films, The Netherlands

Ada Solomon, microFILM, Romania

Together with ACE Animation and ACE Series, the ACE Leadership Programme is part of ACE Specials. This combination of programmes allow experienced producers to expanding their knowledge of different forms of production and improve their skills and understanding of areas and types of production to which they might be new.

 

Please find more information on the programme:
https://ace-producers.com/specials/leadership-special/

Screen Daily press release here.

For further information please contact
Al Williams: alwilliams@ace-producers.com

A previous version of this post also included Michael Weber (Germany – The Match Factory) as a participant. Unfortunately, he had to withdraw from the workshop.

An ACE project has been selected at Critics’ Week: first feature film of director Mikko Myllylahti, “The Woodcutter Story” is a international co-production with two ACE members on board from Finnish Aamu Film Company and Dutch Keplerfilm. The two met during ACE 27.

ACE Producers got the chance to briefly interview Jussi Rantamäki (ACE Finland), co-owner of Aamu Film Company, on the different stages of the project and the role played in it by ACE Producers and its Network.

Jussi, can you briefly introduce yourself and your company?

Aamu Film Company is a Finnish production company co-owned by me and Emilia [Haukka]. We strive from a director-driven cinema, where we select a limited number of directors and work closely with them from their shorts to international films. We don’t choose projects, but directors, by trying to build an understanding of their artistic vision. The director from “The Woodcutter Story” is one of our oldest collaborators. We have produced his short in 2012 until his feature debut now.

At what point of its development and of your career did you get selected for ACE?

We had just premiered “The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Maki”, which was my first feature as a producer and as an entrepreneur. It won the Un Certain Regard Award in 2016. It was a nice upgrade to decide to go for “The Woodcutter Story”, and I applied for ACE 27 with that project.

How did it benefit from ACE?

The project got a great boost, especially during the Content Development Workshop. Koji Nelissen [ACE the Netherlands, in the picture with Jussi Rantamäki] was interested in it, and we finally met 1 year after in Cannes. Another ACE 27 producer was super interested, but at the end we opted for a Finnish-Dutch coproduction.
Also, at that time I needed to rethink how to grow as a company. My vision for the future was not molded enough and, in this context, it was fruitful to be at ACE. It was an amazing group. We are still in contact through social medias, and we try to gather during festivals and events throughout the year, so even outside of ACE context. I believe the strength of ACE is to create long-term relations with directors and film professionals and to reflect with other producers on the challenges and opportunities of the job.

ACE Producers has selected 10 outstanding up-and coming producers from the European Union, Norway and the UK for the first edition of the ACE Mentoring Programme EU. The programme aims to support emerging producers in reaching the next level of their careers and extending their international network by providing them with the opportunity to learn from established mentors from the ACE Producers Network actively working within the European film industry.

ACE Producers’ main goal is to strengthen experienced producers but the ACE Mentoring Programme intends to share the collective knowledge of the ACE Network with a new generation of producers. Mentors have been matched according to the specific needs of the selected producers and their projects. The mentorship includes meetings throughout the year at international festivals and events as well as online.

The programme is supported by the Creative Europe MEDIA Programme and the Netherlands Film Fund.

SELECTED PRODUCERS FOR ACE MENTORING PROGRAMME 2022:

Clara Jantzen Kreinøe, Snowglobe Film, Denmark
Mentor: Lisa Marie Russo (ACE 11), Fly Film Company Limited – United Kingdom

Thomas Lambert, Tomsa Films, France
Mentor: Arash T. Riahi (ACE 27), Golden Girls – Austria

Anouk Shad, Topaz Films, Austria
Mentor: Joanna Szymanska (ACE 30), Shipboy – Poland

Mina Dreki, Marni Films, Greece
Mentor: Leila Lyytikainen (ACE 21), Citizen Jane Productions

Claudio Esposito, The Piranesi Experience, Italy
Mentor: Nicole Gerhard (ACE 18), Niko Film – Germany

Marta Romanova-Jēkabsone, KULTFILMA, Latvia
Mentor: Judy Tossell (ACE 09), Egoli Tossell Film – Germany

Ingvild Evjemo, 4 1/2, Norway
Mentor: Frans van Gestel (Series 1), Topkapi Film – The Netherlands

Krystyna Kantor, Shipsboy, Poland
Mentor: Eva Jakobsen (ACE 25), Snowglobe Film – Denmark

Luis Campos, Matiné, Portugal
Mentor: Yorgos Tsourgiannis (ACE 20), Horsefly Productions – Greece

Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor, Joi Productions, UK
Mentor: Roman Paul (ACE 16), Razor Film Produktion – Germany

 

Together with ACE Training Days, the ACE Mentoring Programme is part of ACE Springboard, a combination of programmes focusing on emerging independent producers to strengthen careers at an early stage. ACE Springboard provides participants with the tools needed to be adaptable and innovative in an ever-changing film industry – for a successful new generation of independent producers!

 

Please find more information here:
https://ace-producers.com/springboard

For more information please contact:
maegenefabias@ace-producers.com

COMPETITION

CLOSE by Lukas Dhont
Co-produced by Laurette Schillings (ACE the Netherlands) and Frans van Gestel (ACE The Netherlands)

LE OTTO MONTAGNE by Charlotte Vandermeersch and Felix Van Groeningen
Produced by Mario Gianani (ACE Italy)

TRIANGLE OF SADNESS by Ruben Östlund
Produced by Erik Hemmendorff (ACE Sweden)
Co-produced by Giorgos Karnavas (ACE Greece) and Per Damgaard Hansen (ACE Denmark)

Cannes Premiere

DON JUAN by Serge Bozon
Produced by Philippe Martin (ACE France) and David Thion (ACE France)
Co-produced by Jean-Yves Roubin (ACE Belgium)

ESTERNO NOTTE (Nightfall) by Marco Bellocchio
Produced by Simone Gattoni (ACE Italy)

Midnight Screenings

REBEL Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah
Co-produced by Diana Elbaum (ACE Belgium)

LA NUIT DU 12 by Dominik Moll
Produced by Carole Scotta (ACE France)

UN CERTAIN REGARD

CORSAGE by Marie Kreutzer
Co-produced by Jonas Dornbach (ACE Germany), Janine Jackowski (ACE Germany), Bernard Michaux (ACE Luxembourg), Jean-Christophe Reymond (ACE France)

GODLAND byHlynur Palmason
Produced by Eva Jakobsen (ACE Denmark)

KURAK GÜNLER (Burning days) by Emin Alper
Produced by Nadir Operli (ACE Turkey)
Co-produced by Yorgos Tsourgiannis (ACE Greece) and Stienette Bosklopper (ACE the Netherlands)

SICK OF MYSELF by Kristoffer Borgli
Produced by Dyveke Graver (ACE Norway)

PLUS QUE JAMAIS by Emily Atef
Co-produced by Nicole Gerhards (ACE Germany)
Associate Producer Bernard Michaux (ACE Luxembourg)

MEDITERRANEAN FEVER by Maha Haj
Produced by Thanassis Karathanos (ACE Germany) and Janine Teerling (ACE Cyprus)

LE BLEU DU CAFTAN by Maryam Touzani
Co-produced by Eva Jakobsen (ACE Denmark)

HARKA by Lotfy Nathan
Produced by Fabian Gasmia (ACE Germany)

DIRECTORS’ FORTNIGHT 2022 SELECTION

ASHKAL by Youssef Chebbi
Produced by Farès Ladjimi (ACE France)

FALCON LAKE by Charlotte Le Bon
Produced by Sylvain Corbeil (ACE Canada)
Co-produced by Jean-Luc Ormieres (ACE France)

FOGO FATUO by João Pedro Rodrigues
Co-produced by Vincent Wang (ACE France)

L’ENVOL by Piero Marcello
Co-produced by Viola Fugen (ACE Germany)

LES ANNEES SUPER 8 by Annie Ernaux & David Ernaux-Briot
Produced by Philipp Martin (ACE France) and David Thion (ACE France)

UN BEAU MATIN by Mia Hansen-Løve
Produced by Philipp Martin (ACE France) and David Thion (ACE France)
Co-produced by Roman Paul (ACE Germany)

THE DAM by Ali Cherri
Co-produced by Thanassis Karathanos (ACE Germany)

UN VARON by Fabian Hernández
Produced by Claire Charles-Gervais (ACE France)

THE CANNES CRITICS’ WEEK 2022 SELECTION

In competition

THE WOODCUTTER’S STORY by Mikko Myllylaht
Produced by Jussi Rantamäki (ACE Finland)
Co-produced by Koji Nelissen (ACE The Netherlands)
Developed during the ACE 27 Annual Programme

Special Screenings

SONS OF RAMSES by Clément Cogitore
Produced by Jean-Christophe Reymond (ACE France)

ACE Producers has selected 15 experienced independent producers for the third edition of the ACE Animation Special. The intensive workshop is designed to provide extensive knowledge of how to diversify business with developing and producing long form, feature film and series animation productions for an international audience including cinema, broadcast and streaming. Supported by Creative Europe MEDIA, Screen Ireland, Animation Skillnet, BAI (Broadcasting Authority of Ireland) and Animation Ireland, the ACE Animation Special will take place from 30 May – 4 June 2022 in Dublin, Ireland.

Jacobine van der Vloed, Director of ACE Producers: “The market for animation production is growing. To meet the demand of knowledge and insights into this industry branch, we are happy to hold this intensive workshop sharing the expertise of our network of ACE consultants and members for the selected producers from all over Europe.”

Producers applied with animated features and series projects in early development. Focusing primarily on the creative and financial aspects of feature and longform animation production, the ACE Animation Special will offer sessions on animatic story development, international production workflows, the creative dynamics of animation production, financing strategies and international distribution. The workshop will also include one or more sessions on physical line production as well as case studies on completed animation projects.

Among the Experts / Consultants of this year’s edition are Sébastien Onomo (Special Touch Studios), Simon Quinn (Big Fat Studio), Martin Pope (Magic Light Pictures), Marleen Slot (Viking Film).

SELECTED ACE ANIMATION SPECIAL PRODUCERS:

Ivan Agenjo, Peekaboo Animation, Spain

Veerle Appelmans, Vivi Film, Belgium

Peter Badač (ACE Slovakia), BFILM

Yohann Cornu, Damned Films, France

Alex Dowding, Submarine Animation, The Netherlands

Alan Holly, And Maps And Plans, Ireland

Sinisa Juricic (ACE Croatia), Nukleus Film

Chantal Lafleur (ACE Canada), Avenida Productions

Galilé Marion-Gauvin (ACE Canada), Productions l’unité centrale

Stefan Michel, Studio Seufz, Germany

Ragna Midtgard, Mikrofilm AS, Norway

Pål Røed (ACE Norway), Paasan, Norway

Lisa Marie Russo (ACE UK), Fly Film

Nidia Santiago, Ikki Films, France

Aneta Zagorska, Krakow Animation Center, Poland

 

A previous version of this post also included Dan Dixon (United Kingdom – Snafu Pictures) and Carla Mooney (Ireland – Cardel) as participants. Unfortunately, they had to withdraw from the workshop.

ACE Producers has selected 13 emerging producers for the ACE Training Days NL 2022.

Jasper Boon, Boondocs
The Netherlands

Fee Buck, PANDORA FILM Produktion
Germany

Esther Busch, Le Berg
Germany

Aydin Dehzad, Kaliber Film
The Netherlands

Maarten D’Hollander, Krater Films
Belgium

Fabian Driehorst, Fabian&Fred
Germany

Christine Duttlinger, Komplizen Film
Germany

Rogier Kramer, Dutch Mountain Film
The Netherlands

Corine Meyers, Studio Biarritz
The Netherlands

Rinskje Raap, Rinkelfilm
The Netherlands

Philipp Raube, Die Neue Lux
Germany

Monique van Kessel, Make Way Film
The Netherlands

Olivia Sophie van Leeuwen, HALAL
The Netherlands

The workshop is aimed at strengthening upcoming producers from the Netherlands and the neighbouring countries Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany. Focusing on “The Marketing & Promotion of Your Projects in an International Context”, it gives the participants the opportunity to learn from established producers and film professionals and to further develop their network.

The 2-day workshop (4 – 6 April 2022) will enable the selected producers to gain more knowledge on the international context of audiovisual production, concentrating mainly on the landscape of co-productions and financing a film internationally, but will also provide additional knowledge on the set-up of international markets and film festivals.

Together with the ACE Mentoring Programme, the ACE Training Days NL is part of ACE Springboard, a combination of programmes focusing on emerging independent producers to strengthen careers at an early stage. ACE Springboard provides participants with the tools needed to be adaptable and innovative in an ever-changing film industry – for a successful new generation of independent producers!

The ACE Training Days NL is set up with the collaborating partners Netherlands Film Fund, NAPA, Film Forward and Eye Filmmuseum. 

Please find more information here:
https://ace-producers.com/springboard

For more information please contact:
maegenefabias@ace-producers.com

ACE Producers is pleased to announce the call for applications for the ACE Series Special, with thanks to support from Creative Europe MEDIA and FFF Bayern.

A hands-on workshop for experienced producers who want to deepen their knowledge of developing and producing TV drama series for an international audience and/or integrate a series division into their companies. The workshop is open to members of the ACE Network or other producers of a similar level.

16-18 producers are selected for the workshop, each with a series in development. Focusing primarily on the creative and financial aspects of TV series production, the ACE Series Special will also offer sessions on working with broadcasters and streamers, marketing, audiences, international approaches and business strategies. The workshop gives producers a chance to work on their projects through one to one meetings with experts and group sessions with their peers.
The core of the 2022 workshop will be held in Munich, Germany with the support of FFF Bayern and Creative Europe MEDIA. Further sessions will be held online before the workshop.

Topics covered include:

• The financing scheme of series in an international context;
• Discovering the market potential and finding an (international) audience;
• Strategically integrating a series department into an existing (film-)production company;
• Understanding the different production structures of series development
• Working with streamers and broadcasters.

Previous consultants include Piv Bernth (Apple Tree Productions), Caroline Benjo (Haut et Court), Lars Blomgren (Banijay), Noemi Ferrer Schwenk (DR Sales), Mario Gianani (Wildside), Ed Guiney (Element Pictures) Elizabeth Kilgarriff (Firebird Pictures), Monica Levy (Federation), Marc Lorber (Lionsgate), Davide Nardini (Amazon Italy) and Christian Vesper (Fremantle).

PROGRAMME DATES
31 October – 5 November 2022
With other online elements

LOCATION
Munich, Germany

ELIGIBILITY CONDITIONS
• To be an owner, partner or associate of an independent film/TV
production company;
• To be an ACE member or producer with a similar level of experience;
• To have a TV drama series in development that is at a relevant stage and suitable for co-production.

FEES
€2.500 (€2.250 for ACE Network Members).
The fee covers full board, accommodation and training during the workshops. Travel costs are not included.

APPLICATION DEADLINE
13 June 2022

HOW TO APPLY
To request an application form please email info@ace-producers.com.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
ace-producers.com/series-special